Emergency Information

Immediate help - distress and mental health issues

During working hours

• The Student Counselling Service. The Service reserves one session each day for students in immediate distress. The Service is highly confidential (although we reserve the right to mobilise other help if someone's life or health is at immediate risk).
• The College Health Centre. You can usually get an appointment at extremely short notice in an emergency - the Health Centre will treat you in an emergency even if you are not registered there. Again the service is highly confidential.
• College Security 01784 443063 are able to mobilise help for a large range of issues.
• If you are unsure of whom to contact please get in touch with the Support and Advisory Services team in FW170 (01784 443394 / 443955) who will be able to help you or show you to the relevant support teams.

Out of working hours

For students in College residences in College during term-time Residential Support| can be contacted by Security 01784 443063. Security can also summons emergency welfare support from College staff at other times.

• The Health Centre number will put you in contact with the local out-of-hours medical service at all times.
• College works with London Nightline  who offer help and advice at night on 0207 631 0101 (6pm-8am every night of term).
• Hospitals with 24 hr. casualty services - Ashford (01784 884488); St. Peter's, Chertsey (01932 872000). St. Peter's has a specialist Psychiatric Liaison Officer on call in the A&E Department.
• The Samaritans can be contacted on 08457 909090 at any time. Their service is entirely confidential. This may be preferred by some students; however it does mean they will not mobilise help within College.
• NHS Direct wil offer advice over the phone (0845 4647).

In addition to these services that maintain specific emergency cover, Chaplains, Residential Support, Community Support,Support & Advisory Services Staff, Student Union and Departmental Advisors will all be willing to support a student in times of difficulty or distress.

Physical Emergencies (Fire, Injury, Acute Illness, Crime)

• All emergency services (fire, ambulance and police) are called in the UK by dialling 999 from any phone. If you are on campus please also alert College Security 01784 443063 so they can guide the emergency services to the correct location.
• If you want to call the Police over a less urgent issue - e.g. to report a crime - call 0845 125 2222 or go to to Surrey Police website for other means of contact.
• On campus, emergency hall room maintenence issues should be reported to the Customer Service point, or when closed to College Security.
• Emergency financial help can be obtained from the SU and the College Financial AdvisorOther welfare issues (eg harassment; neighbourhood disputes; personal safety) can be reported to Support & Advisory Services staff in FW170 in person or by email. Advice can be obtained from the SU Support and Advice Centre

Helping a friend in severe distress

• If a friend of yours is in distress and maybe even talking about harming themselves, we would suggest the following steps, sometimes summed up in the acronym COPE.
• Be Caring - in particular never ignore or take lightly a suggestion of suicide - research shows most people who attempt suicide normally tell someone else of their intentions first. Ask more and do not be afraid that talking about the threat will put ideas into the person's mind - it is more likely that they will appreciate being taken seriously.
• Be Optimistic - as explained below, most human problems can be solved with time, care and expert help no matter how hopeless they seem. You do not have to give up hope just because your friend has temporarily lost theirs. However, do not let your optimism lead you to dismiss or make light of the person's concerns.
• Be Practical -do not leave a person expressing serious self-harming intent alone, especially if the means of self-harm are at hand. Involve others - using the emergency services if necessary. Be particularly vigilant if someone is drunk or under the influence of drugs, if they have made a suicide attempt in the past or if they have a clearly formulated plan. Do not however get drawn into making unrealistic long-term promises of ongoing support that you are unlikely to be able to keep.
• Seek an Expert. If the person in distress refuses to involve any of the sources of help listed above once the immediate crisis is passed, consider contacting them yourself in order to plan what steps can be taken to get support for yourself and your friend.

Finally,

You may be consulting this page because you are considering suicide or because you are worrying about a friend who seems to be considering suicide.

The Counselling Service advises most strongly that anyone contemplating suicide seek assistance at the earliest possible time. We would never want to minimise the problems that lead individuals to contemplate ending their lives - often they are problems of great severity which carry with them deep feelings of shame, loneliness and hopelessness. However, most research and anecdotal experience of carers suggest that the despairing thought which make a person feel that the only way to resolve the problem is by suicide is normally a misguided one. This Service has worked with many students while they are actively contemplating suicide or who have done so in the past - almost invariably when the crisis is past they express relief that they have not acted on their suicidal intentions. 

The problems that lead to suicidal thinking are too complex and varied to address here - although some pointers may be found on our other pages. However please do follow up our suggestions of immediate sources of help so that these issue can be addressed and helped promptly.